Avalon Larp Studio design and produce collaborative, innovative, and inclusive larp (live action role playing) events. Participants take on the persona of a character who will experience powerful emotions and stories. The worlds we build and the dynamics we create are carefully tailored for drama, but these larps are not scripted and the heart of the stories made lies with the participants. Avalon Larp Studio is a non-profit larp design collective, named after the larp that brought us together as designers, Avalon 2018. We create larps because it is our passion.
As an organisation, we work to design and produce larps in a professional manner, to a fair and affordable price that does the production justice. Internally, our structure is flat - we all mentor each other in different ways. Some of you might see us positioning ourselves as a semi-professional larp production company, and yes, we do strive to act professionally. However, we are not here to commercialise larp.
Each of our events is budgeted independently and is funded through the player payments. We keep our margins low but plan with some contingency. Any surplus goes directly into strengthening our organization or is donated into relevant charities. No money is withdrawn for profits. Where appropriate our events are insured against cancellation. Not for profit does not mean amateur!
We see larp as a collaborative form of expression, and we do not wish to capitalise on that collaboration. We are all volunteers, who put in the amount of hours we can in order to create larps. We are starting to be able to pay our collaborators for their work with us. Further down the road, we hope that some of our own hours can be charged, since it would allow us to spend more time on our projects. For now, we are structuring an organisation that takes volunteers and collaborators seriously, and gives them the credit they have earned.
MEET THE TEAM
Look at us in moody black and white, we do not smile, this is not a game.
MARTINE SVANEVIK
CEO, Founding Member
Martine Svanevik is a larper, fiction writer, and narrative designer. Her work has featured in both AAA games and indie productions. She is interested in how larp allows you to experience the stories of others and give you an opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. She has been playing and making larps since 1999. One of the founders of Avalon Larp Studio, Martine was project director for Avalon.
CHARLIE ASHBY
Founding Member
Charlie Ashby is an academic, educator and experience designer working in London. Her interests lie in the power of immersive environments and sustained roleplaying to create transformative experiences. One of the founders of Avalon Larp Studio, Charlie has stepped down from an active role, but her contribution to our early productions and practice remains at the heart of what we do.
SIMON BRIND
Janitor, Founding Member
Simon Brind is an academic and writer working in London. His interests lie in the way that larp can be used to tell a collective story with multiple authors and multiple endings.
SAGALINN TANGEN
Member
Sagalinn Tangen is a second generation larp designer, who focuses on storytelling and world building. Before turning 20 she set up her first Nordic Larp Production on her own. She is interested in how larp can be used as a tool for self-discovery and exploration, and believes there is a story hidden in everything - from the way we move to a piece of music, to the frequency with which we blink.
HALFDAN JUSTESEN
Member
Halfdan Justesen is a designer, who has larped since he was handed his first boffer weapon at age 6, a moment that led to a passion for larp and collaborative creativity.
He is currently doing his MSc thesis and project in Sustainable Design, with a specialization in the conceptualization of sustainability in product design practices.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
STORY-MAKING
Our larps are about characters and their stories. A character’s journey should involve change. Sometimes this involves them having to overcome grim obstacles and best unrelenting challenges. More often that not, they come out on the other side having lost more than they gained, but they will have changed as a result of their experience; our goal is that the players will too.
PLAYER AGENCY
Being part of a collaborative creative process is inherently powerful, and designing for player agency is our way of giving that power to our participants. In our larps, the players shape the story and influence the direction of the game. Sometimes, they do this by reacting to and engaging with the plot, other times by shaping the stories on their own. We impact people by providing them with a narrative they have been part of building.
UNIQUE
Every larp is one of a kind. Each of our larp events is designed with this in mind. There is a beauty in transient unrepeatable experiences, and we respect and celebrate it. Even when we produce two instances of the same concept, running them back to back, we strive to make them fundamentally different experiences. There are no reruns, our stories only exist as we make them.
EXPLORATIVE
Whether we are creating intense emotional experiences or fantastic elaborate fictions, we do so to create a space for exploration and discovery - be it of the world or the self. Both players and designers play with new ideas and new experiences, tap dancing on thin ice above the screaming void. The stories we make together should be transformative, beautiful, and important.
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
Avalon Larp Studio is a Norwegian non-profit association. These are our articles of association:
ARTICLE 1
The name of the Organisation is “Avalon Larp Studio.”
ARTICLE 2
The Organisation's registered office is in Oslo, path to the North and birthplace of the paperclip.
ARTICLE 3
The Organisation’s objective is to design, write, and run immersive live action role-playing experiences (larps) as well as activities connected therewith. The Organisation may also directly or indirectly be engaged in other forms of game and/or experience design.
ARTICLE 4
The Organisation is a not for profit and any surplus monies will be invested in new projects, or in the development of the Organisation or those working on our projects. In some cases surplus monies will be donated to charities. No directors of the Organisation will take a wage, no dividends will be paid.
ARTICLE 5
The Organisation's board of directors (the "Board of Directors") shall consist of three to five members as determined by the decision of the Organisation's general meeting (the "General Meeting").
ARTICLE 6
The focus of The Organisation and its projects will be entertainment, culture and arts development.
ARTICLE 7
Whoever dies with the most stories, wins.
ARTICLE 8
The Organisation shall hold its Annual General Meeting (the "Annual General Meeting") each year before the end of the month of December. At least three weeks written notice must be given to call the Annual General Meeting. The notice calling the meeting shall include the agenda for the meeting. Voting rights are reserved to members of the Organisation.
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Approval of the Annual Report and Accounts.
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Election of the Board of Directors; and
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All such other matters as are dealt with by a general meeting by the operation of law or pursuant to these Articles of Association.
The General Meeting may be held in the municipality of Oslo but with only TWO members of the board being required to be present in Oslo, but other Board members may attend online.
ARTICLE 9
If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be a part of your revolution.
ARTICLE 10
Everyone who has worked on or contributed to a project organised by the Organisation has the right to attend the General Meeting. Attending the General Meeting does not give automatic membership.
ARTICLE 11
The Organisation will be inclusive in all ways and will fight against hate, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any other behavior that expresses prejudice or discrimination, because fuck that shit.
ARTICLE 12
Without a hierarchy to classify our members we can only know strange faces as friends through their actions.
ARTICLE 13
There are no endings, other than those we make for ourselves.